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Myanmar junta urges vote for referendum
Myanmar's ruling military leaders on Friday urged citizens to vote for an army-drafted constitution.
- Agencies
- Published: 08:28 May 9, 2008
- Image Credit: Reuters
- A villager sits outside her Cyclone Nargis damaged house in Myanmar's village of U Khai-Hlaing outside Labutta, in Irrawaddy delta.
Yangon: Myanmar's ruling military leaders on Friday urged citizens to vote for an army-drafted constitution meant to end nearly five decades of military rule in the country.
The constitution has been widely derided by the opposition as a blueprint for the generals cementing a grip on the power they first seized in a 1962 coup.
"If you are patriotic and you love your nation you must give an affirmative vote," said one message broadcast on state-run MRTV on Friday.
The government announced on Tuesday it would go ahead with the vote in parts of the country not affected by Cyclone Nargis, but postponed it to May 24 in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta.
Diplomats and disaster experts said the death toll is likely to rise to 100,000 people and the United Nations says 1.5 million people have been "severely affected".
While the military has appealed for outside help for disaster victims, it has been reluctant to allow a full-scale international relief effort.
Some critics accuse the junta of stalling because they do not want an influx of foreigners into the countryside during Saturday's referendum.
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